Parents who come into a potentially harmful to their children store, in my case a lighting store where there is glass and hot things, and then don't give a shit about what they're doing because they're too busy shopping. A lady just left her kids in our little lighting studio (which we demonstrate some products in) and they decided that filling cups of water up from our water cooler and pouring them all over our floor would be fun. LITTLE SHITS.

I've no idea how to deal with stuff that's been happening these days. There's not much I can do about it. I feel powerless, haunted by guilt and above all I'm fucking scared. I've just been trying to keep myself occupied but it's not really working. Don't know where I'll find the strength to push through and actually help.

Lotha wrote:I've no idea how to deal with stuff that's been happening these days. There's not much I can do about it. I feel powerless, haunted by guilt and above all I'm fucking scared. I've just been trying to keep myself occupied but it's not really working. Don't know where I'll find the strength to push through and actually help.

Often just standing by, listening and offering support is enough but still, it requires a lot of strength. Do you have anybody to rely on? That could help you to get this strength? I will say it although it's a cliche: sometimes you just have to accept there is nothing you can do. But how to live with that? That's the other part of the story...

I recently have an impression that the amount of human pain and suffering around me becomes unbearable. Diseases, cancers, depression, hurricanes, floods, debts, divorces, dismissals, arguments, sick kids... I can't keep them away.

Lotha, does the issue concern you directly? Is there any way to look at it from a different perspective?Maybe you can help by finding an expert that could offer professional support?

Hope you'll find your strength for whatever tough time that is coming. I'm sending my warmest thoughts to you (although I do realize how meaningless it is). Of course, if there is anything more that we could do, just say a word.

It's not me. My best friend is suffering from depression, has been for a while. A few days ago he attempted suicide.

I was moving into a new apartment that day and couldn't respond to messages. He seemed to be doing much better in the last few days prior to that. Ours is a long-distance friendship, and we saw each other last month after God knows how long. He just sent me a message that he was glad we saw each other then. Like he wanted to say goodbye, but didn't want me to figure out what he was about to do.

He is okay now, physically, but his only regret seems to be that he didn't die. I just don't know how to deal with that.

I've suffered from depression in my teens, but it wasn't so severe, and while I understand him to some degree, I know there is an unbridgeable gap between our ways of thinking now. I'm not even sure how much therapy could help him if he doesn't want to be helped.

Does he have a family or somebody who would take care of him?He probably prefers dying than receiving any treatment now but maybe there is somebody around him who can actually force him at least to start.If you're far away you can always try to keep in touch, call him, text him. Make him aware / remind him that it is "just" a disease, it's just something wrong with his neurotransmitters and it can be cured. And if it's not treated, then it might become potentially lethal. It's not that something is wrong with him, just a part of his body doesn't work properly... Tell him the world doesn't need to look that way. That doctors can help in such cases. That it's just distorted perception. It is an enormous effort for a depressed person to start the treatment & therapy, I fully realize that, but if things have gone so far, he needs some help urgently...

And don't feel guilty, how could you have known if he was far away? Even if you lived with him in one apartament, he would have found a way not to show it to you. Stay strong, try to "be" with him but remember it is not your fault and don't take reponsibility for that. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it from happening.

I feel terribly sorry for him and for you as well... It's terrifying to think how many people are affected by that sneaky disease... So sad...

Lotha wrote:I'm not even sure how much therapy could help him if he doesn't want to be helped.

Honestly, depending on what he's got going on, it's my opinion that there's some stuff therapy can't fix at least for certain people. Folks are very sensitive over suicide, understandably so, and are quick to recommend professional help but at the end of the day it's talking and it's meds. If you're a very introspective person the first one might not have much of an impact and the meds one is a whole different thing. At the end of the day it's an escape from something and if the therapy doesn't make you feel like you don't need that escape anymore the feeling remains.

If he's at least willing to try, it is a good sign. Or he might just pretend to distract your attention, though. Hard to say. He still needs to be under surveillance.

And sure, Fish Tacos is right. Anyway, I suppose the standard procedure is to go for a combination of meds AND therapy. Medicines will help quicker but to return to long-term stability, a regular therapy is required - that's what they say. There's definitely a long way for him to go, which probably will often turn out to be quite bumpy. Prescribing the right meds in the right doses is not an easy thing from what I heard and they might have a lot of side effects... That is a horrifying disease.

Anyway, maybe his case is not so severe and I hope he gets better soon. And that you will come to terms with it all somehow.

Bit of a tangent but I heard on NPR that they're finding that people who undergo trauma actually undergo change on a cellular level and that their children retain the difference. So that trauma is actually passed down genetically. They didn't go into any details so I'm not sure how legit the study is but it was interesting. Whether that can manifest as depression or if it's more of a feedback mechanism for offspring to have a disposition towards avoiding something idk.

Those silent protesters in the NFL make me so furious. How dare they disrespect the vets? The soldiers who bravely fought against traitors like Robert E. Lee (whose statue we have to defend, by the way, by marching alongside with neo-nazis).

When people discuss their shitty private stuff by phone in the office 2 meters from you for 20 minutes. When you can hear not only them but also the person they’re talking to. And it’s all happening when your deadlines are breathing down your neck and you’re trying to get focused. When you’re the only person to address the issue and then you have to see them sulking for the next two days.Luckily it’s almost weekend